Ngā Toi Māori is made up of Māori practitioners specialising in the creation and composition of taonga works and the oral arts, such as weavers, carvers, tohunga tā moko, writers, musicians, mōteatea and kapa haka performers, composers, choreographers, visual artists, designers, waka and wharenui designers and builders.
Taonga crafted by Ngā Toi Māori provide substantial commercial, financial and cultural benefits to wider Aotearoa – benefiting everyone apart from those involved in their creation. Ngā Toi Māori is not formally recognised as an economic sector, making it difficult to argue a case for government training funding and investment.